Business

Indiegogo Rolls Out New Tools and Tips for Crowdfunding

Indiegogo announced a new suite of tools on Tuesday to help campaign managers run their projects.

The popular crowdfunding site — and Kickstarter competitor — is hoping to make it easier for campaign organizers to track donations and provide the best perks in exchange. Included in the rollout is a new backend dashboard, tracking tools that let campaign managers determine where traffic is coming from, and better monitoring of donations and perks to ensure the most relevant rewards are being promoted on the campaign.

The updates should help campaign managers better promote their projects over social media channels. By better understanding where donors come from on the web, campaigners can focus promotions and advertising to specific sites. The new tracking system also shows campaigners where donors are based geographically, and Indiegogo campaigns can now be integrated with Google Analytics, meaning site traffic should be easier to monitor.

"Our customers are increasingly using data from our platform as a tool for raising funds, and the features we're launching today will make that process even more beneficial,” said Danae Ringelmann, Indiegogo co-founder, in a press release.

Indiegogo's new campaign dashboard.

Successful campaigns aren't all about number crunching of course, and Indiegogo also released a list of campaign tips for future project creators to absorb. For example, campaigns with more than one team member raise nearly twice as much money as campaigns with a single creator.

Campaigns that include videos raise 115% more than campaigns without them, and teams that stay engaged with their campaign can net significantly more than those who do not. Posting three updates throughout the duration of the campaign correlated to a 239% increase in funds raised over projects with two or fewer updates.

The new tools and tips should go a long way in encouraging crowdfund hopefuls to campaign on the Indiegogo platform, particularly with equity-based crowdfunding looming in the near future. (Equity-based crowdfunding means donors will receive a small ownership stake in a company they invest in instead of a perk.) Indiegogo announced Tuesday that it has experienced 112% growth since last year in total money raised, although it did not offer up hard figures to put that growth into perspective.

Tuesday's rollout will be available to all Indiegogo campaigners, including those using the site's international versions, according to a spokesperson.

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